GPG Usage

To encrypt and decrypt files in Linux there is a utility called gpg (Gnu Privacy Guard). This is a short GPG tutorial.

Quick usage example

gpg -c foo.txt

It will prompt you for the passphrase and a confirmation. Now you will have the encrypted foo.txt.gpg file. To decrypt a file:

gpg -d foo.txt.gpg

This will forward the output to the console. You can output it into a file:

gpg -d foo.txt.gpg > foo.txt

GPG keyring

This is all secure, but not quite enough if you are paranoid. Keys are what makes gpg great. Let’s generate a private key:

gpg --gen-key

And create an ASCII version of a public key:

gpg --armor --export "John Doe" --output johndoe.txt

Public key johndoe.txt can be freely distributed. Now you can encrypt files for yourself only:

gpg -e -r "John Doe" foo.txt

Now if you decrypt a file it will require the passphrase you specified while generating a key. To encrypt a file for someone else you should have this person’s public key.

Let’s assume Stan Smith sent you a key, stansmith.txt. You import it using:

gpg --import stansmith.txt

And encrypt the file:

gpg -e -r "Stan Smith" foo.txt